The First Step
by Chaos's Prototype
Summary: Returning to their homeworld came with problems they hadn't anticipated. The disdain of his religious family regarding his fall to darkness, for instance.


**A/N: This is an entry in the deviantart group khplatoniclove's "Freedom" contest. It's platonic Lumaria/Relena (Marluxia and Larxene's Somebodies, just for the record) and set around the end of ****_Dream Drop Distance_****, in La Cité des Cloches (from ****_The Hunchback of Notre Dame_****). And, because it's relevant, Lumaria's Catholic in my headcanon, and either his father or his grandfather (or maybe both, I'm not sure) is/are of high standing in the church. **

**_XxXxXxXxXx_**

Night was the only time Lumaria could easily slip away, as inconvenient as it might be. Any other time, they were watching him, alert for even the slightest hint that he might be about to slip back into the darkness that he so recently left. Even in that short time, they had already told him so many times how lucky he was; so few get a second chance, let alone a third. And he _would _use this third well, they would make sure of it.

...Perhaps he shouldn't be so bitter about it.

Growling, he barely suppressed the urge to slam his fist into the wall. Hearts could be so _frustrating_. He didn't remember being nearly this conflicted before; he hatedthis.

By the time he reached his destination, he was still shoving down the increasing sense of guilt. It almost seemed ever-present, even when he should have had no reason for it. Now was a good example.

At the very least, Relena was where he had expected her to be. It was hard to tell, at times, what with how often she had moved around since their return. It was almost to be expected really, seeing as how she had cut ties with her family and no longer stayed in one place for more than a few days at a time.

He reached out to shake her a bit cautiously, having known better for many years than to do something as foolish as take her by surprise. She mumbled something in response, so quietly that he almost didn't catch it. "Go 'way, Clopin; I told you-"

Opening her eyes to slits, she watched him in confusion for a brief moment, then shoved him away angrily. "Leave or I'll shove my knife in you."

Though he didn't doubt that she would, he merely rolled his eyes, dragging her up even as she fought him, grasping air as he kept her from grabbing the weapon on her belt.

"Let _go _of me, you f-"

The curse gave way to an incoherent shout as he dropped her unceremoniously to the ground, taking several steps back and moving to summon his own weapon.

_...Wait._

That was right, he didn't havehis scythe anymore. Dropping into a more typical, yet distinctly less comfortable battle stance, he looked back at her, his gaze not quite challenging.

"I freaking _hate _you," she spat, gripping the knife she had since retrieved as tightly as she could, her knuckles turning white. "You're luckyI don't shred you right now."

"I know," he muttered coolly, watching her.

"If you came here justto wake me up," she started, trailing off as he gestured broadly in the direction of the plaza. "Do you have any ideawhattime it is?" she demanded, trudging over to him despite looking like she would much rather punch him.

"Late, I believe," he replied, catching her arm before she could run her knife across his face.

"Aw, did you figure that out all by yourself?" she cooed sarcastically, yanking away from him. When his reaction consisted of little more than rolling his eyes again, she scowled. "What'd you want anyway?"

"You should know by now," he answered vaguely, sitting down in front of an abandoned booth, one he believed was used for puppetry.

With an exaggerated groan, she dropped down next to him. "Why do you keep coming to _me _about this? You knowwhat I think, and you already said you wouldn't do it."

"It's becoming a problem," he admitted, though not for the first time.

"I dunno why the guilt's bothering you so much," she muttered, adding with a thin smirk, "I don't have a problem."

Grinning the faintest bit, he said, "I suppose you wouldn't."

"_Duh_. Didn't have a problem the first time, don't have a problem now."

"You've been avoiding your family; it-"

"Ha! Yeah, right; it's totallyyour family's fault! You weren't messed up in Traverse Town at _all_!" Her glee was irritating, regardless of any truth. Before he got a chance to reply, she looked at the scowl so clearly written across his face and murmured, "Sometimes you're actually more fun this way."

That gave him pause, though he eventually chose to ignore it. "You knowwhat I meant."

Sighing, she leaned back. "And sometimes you're just a killjoy."

"Hm."

"Whatever. If this is pointless I'm leaving, so just freaking spit it out already. It's late; I'm not putting up with this crap." She cut him off as soon as he opened his mouth. "You are _so _easy to read right now," she laughed, going on with, "Your heart hurts again, right?"

It bothered him a bit how easily she could tell, even if it did make a few things easier. Reluctantly, he nodded, watching her cautiously.

She shook her head in irritation. "Just freaking get over it. It'll go away, if you stop obsessing over it, and waking me up in the middle of thefreakingnight."

"I know," he muttered, narrowing his eyes in thought, "that's not why I wanted to talk to you."

Her gaze jerked back to him so quickly he thought she was about to strike him again. "Are you thinking about going back?" she demanded, a mixture of emotions in her eyes that he couldn't read, but still managed to make him angry.

"I don't see what it has to do with you, even if I am."

"You hated it!" she shouted, surging to her feet. "_Hated _it. You wouldn't even talk to me about about it, because you couldn't even think about it without wanting to hit something. And now you want to go back?!"

"What made me angry," he corrected, a threatening edge he rarely used anymore lacing his voice. "was being forcedinto everything."

She did hit him that time, eyes blazing. "If you think they don't trust you now, wait 'til they find out just what their 'perfect'little boy did while he was wallowing in the darkness. I bet they'll be _ecstatic_."

"I might not have to tell them specifically," he argued, more defensive than angry. They were such strong emotions, but lasted just a short time...

"You're not religious," she muttered, crossing her arms. "You've not _been_. What gives? Your sudden conscience change your mind?"

"I was before I lost my heart," he said. "That mighthave something to do with it."

She groaned again. "You're an idiot; you keep saying your emotions are screwed up. You're gonna change your mind again. I knowyou."

"Perhaps not as well as you think you do," he replied evenly.

She stood there just watching him for a moment, then grinned. "Wanna bet?"

"No."

"Ugh, you're no fun anymore..."

Neither of them said anything for a while after that, merely watching each other in the still faintly tense silence.

"You're doing it tomorrow," Relena announced abruptly, glaring at him. "I don't care if I have to drag you; you're doing it."

He started, at a loss for words for a moment. Even once he managed to process it, all he could say was, "What?"

"You heard me. This is getting ridiculous." She grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him back toward where she slept. "And you're staying with me tonight. That way I can make _sure _it gets done."

"I don't see how you being there could possibly help," he argued, yanking the material out of her grip even while he followed her.

"You going alonewon't help either, so shut up."

There was another pause, and as a thought occurred to him, "How exactly are we going to sleep?"

"Well, we could always do it like we did in Traverse Town," she murmured, a teasing glint in her eyes.

"...I can sleep on the ground," he decided abruptly, grimacing.

"I was _kidding_. Geez, calm down already..."

The next morning dawned too quickly, bright sunlight shining into their eyes only a few hours later. Relena was up first, shouting something at him, only to kick him awake when he didn't respond immediately.

"_Now_," she growled, kicking him again.

"I had almost forgotten you weren't much different as Larxene then you were as Relena," he muttered, waiting for the expected not-quite-denial.

"Call meLarxene again, and I'll-!"

"I _know_."

She stalked off at that, making him hope for a very fleeting moment that she had forgotten. But no, it was soon evident that she was still heading toward Notre Dame, however frustrating. Perhaps if his father held a higher opinion of her it wouldn't be as bad, but as it was, he couldn't help dreading it.

"Oh, mister Fontaine~" Relena called as she entered ahead of him, startling another woman and her child that stood nearby. She shot them a forced cheerful smile, not even getting another chance to speak before Lumaria wrapped his hand around her mouth.

"You are in a _church_," he hissed in her ear, whispering a faint apology to the two others in the same breath.

The woman still seemed uneasy, tugging her little boy in another direction, but nodded just the same. "Merci, sir," she murmured, seeming as though it was only to be polite, before hurrying away.

He could feel Relena smirking under his hand. "Word travels fast, hmm?"

"Be quiet," he muttered, almost sounding defeated, as he walked off toward the stairs with her following after him.

"Not in my nature, but maaaybeI can try it for a little while."

"And I knowyou remember how to address him," he went on. "You hardly need to give him even more of a reason to..."

"Mister Fontaine! Great to see you!" she exclaimed as they nearly ran into a man at the top of the staircase.

"Er, father, I didn't realize you would be here," he murmured, cringing a bit at Relena's disrespectful greeting. "She means _monsieur_. I apologize, we haven't had cause to use french in quite a while; I'm afraid she is a bit out of practice."

"No, I'm not," she argued immediately, laughing a bit. Turning back towards M. Fontaine, she smiled again. "I just always thought it was more friendly to call you mister."

Oh, how he wanted to hit her.

"I could call you by your first name if you like!" she added, grinning wildly.

Ignoring her offers, M. Fontaine instead turned to his son, demanding, "Why is she here?"

"She-"

"Lumaria thinks he wants to come back to the church," Relena interrupted, seemingly determined to not let him get a word in edgewise. "_I _think he should-"

"Come to you with it, as I was considering attempting to go about it on my own," Lumaria cut her off, resisting the urge to roll his eyes as he added, "She thought that would be unwise."

"Uh, yeah, that's what I said," she agreed, obviously trying to hold back laughter.

The man's eyes narrowed calculatingly as he looked over his son. "If this is some sort of trick—"

"It isn't, father, I sw—I assure you."

There was another, almost painful pause as he seemed to consider it. "Very well," he finally said, adding firmly, "We _will _still be keeping an eye on you, regardless."

"I know."

The man turned at that, heading back the way he had come, again ignoring Relena as she waved in an overly-cheery manner at him. Once he had disappeared down a hallway, she let out the laughter she had been holding in. "Humble! _You_!"

"I _thought _you were going to help."

"I think we bothknow our definitions of 'help' are veeerydifferent."

Sighing, he shook his head. "Let's just get out of here before you offend someone."

"Right behind you."

As they walked out, she asked, "So, you feel lighter or whatever?"

"It's not instantaneous, you know," he muttered.

"Because that is _so _what I meant." She punched him again, though this time lightly.

"...Well, I certainly won't have to take over for either of them," he noted. "There's that."

"Andmaybe your family won't hate you anymore," she pointed out.

"Well, he certainly hates you," he admitted, grinning.

"Everybody wins."

**_XxXxXxXxXx_**

**A/N: French translations: Merci- Thank you; M.- Mr.**

**The interpretation of the theme is that Relena's trying to help him get freedom from the way his family looks at him for falling to darkness. (The title is supposed to be about how this is the "first step" to getting that) The bit where Relena asks him if his heart hurts again is a reference to a fic I haven't actually written yet, as are the parts about Traverse Town... orz**

**For the record, Relena's reaction is less that she hates Catholicism in general, and more with how frustrating it was to Lumaria prior to the Organization, and that-at least from her end-it seemed like he hated it. I honestly didn't mean to offend anyone with this...I'm really sorry if I did. My opinions don't reflect the characters'. **


End file.
